Any assumptions about how a movie star dresses don’t fit Ryan Gosling.

On a chilly winter day in Los Angeles, Gosling — who became the object of the fantasies of
untold numbers of women with his shirtless, soaking-wet scenes in
The Notebook (2004) — is clad in ratty jeans and a plaid shirt.

As he sits for an interview, the 32-year-old Canadian doesn’t exude the poise and charm of a
movie star.

Gosling is here to talk about his new film,
Gangster Squad, opening on Friday. Directed by Ruben Fleischer, the loosely based-on-fact
film recounts the Los Angeles Police Department’s secret fight to keep the city free of Mafia
chiefs from the East Coast — including gang lord Mickey Cohen (Sean Penn) — during the 1940s and ’5
0s. The ensemble cast also includes Josh Brolin and Emma Stone.

Gosling plays Sgt. Jerry Wooters, a police officer whose desire to do the right thing is
compromised by a hot temper, a daredevil mentality and a streak of fatalism.

“He’s the guy with the devil-may-care attitude,” Gosling says. “He figures that someone or
something will take him down, so why not put up a good fight and do some good on the way out?”

He also has an affair with Cohen’s longtime girlfriend, played by Stone.

“The film has an interesting tone,” Gosling says, “because it promises not to be your father’s
gangster film. You can expect to be surprised. I think the film really is a love letter to Los
Angeles.

“It’s a serious movie, but it can also be comedic at times,” he adds. “I’m coming from a comedy
background. For me, this movie was a way to make that transition to an action movie, but I knew I
had a lot of learning to do.”

It was important to him, the actor says, that
Gangster Squad reflect reality, rather than other gangster movies.

“I found a picture of my real-life counterpart and met with some of his family members,” Gosling
says. “His kid even came to the set and told me a lot of great stories.”

Working with Stone was nothing new for him. The two played a passionate couple in
Crazy, Stupid, Love (2011).

“The true worst part was that it was hard for us to be serious,” Stone says in a separate
interview. “We had made this comedy together. In real life, we’re just a couple of knuckleheads.”G
osling grew up in Ontario with his parents and an older sister.

His life changed when he went to Montreal for open auditions for
The All-New Mickey Mouse Club. He won a part and spent two years, from 1993 to 1995, in
Florida appearing on the show.

The young man’s eyes were still on the movies, and, after some work on Canadian television, he
headed for Hollywood, where his first movie was
Remember the Titans (2000).

Next up for Gosling is a starring role opposite real-life girlfriend Eva Mendes in
The Place Beyond the Pines.